12 January 2012

The Book: I'm currently in audiobook mourning because I'm now completely caught up with George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Sob. Roy Dotrice read A Dance with Dragons to me in a mere 49 hours.

I discussed the first four books in the series in these posts: A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings,A Storm of Swords, and A Feast for Crows. And because it's pretty much impossible to do a quick summary of the fifth book without giving away spoilers, I'm not going to try. If you have never heard of this series, I suggest you read my A Game of Thrones review. Thus today's post is not much of a review and more just some thoughts.

The fight for the Seven Kingdoms, as I mentioned when talking about A Feast for Crows, has indeed grown complex. There are several factions fighting for the Iron Throne, which is currently held by a boy king, who is prime for manipulation by many at court. In the meantime, several contenders for the throne are duking it out in the north and in other major centers of power. Who will win which battles is anyone's guess.

One interesting aspect of Dragons is that the powerful are becoming weak (though still clever, and still survivors), and the weak are becoming powerful (though still not very savvy). This makes the politics of the Seven Kingdoms and the multilayered alliances unpredictable.

A Dance with Dragons leaves us hanging in terms of several story lines. I hate the fact that I'm caught up and now must wait, wait, wait until the next book comes out. In the meantime, thank goodness I have the HBO series.

The Tea: I've raved about Harney & Son's Hot Cinnamon Spice Tea. before and I'll do it again. It's so warming and smells so wonderful, it's perfect for cold winter afternoons. Here's the company's description: "medium-bodied black tea . . . naturally sweetened to perfection by a blend of cinnamons, orange, and sweet cloves. The remarkably assertive tea effuses a hot spicy aroma and sets off miniature fireworks on the tongue that'll have you exclaim WOW!"

The Assessment: With the Seven Kingdoms in disarray and winter coming on, it's hard to say who even has tea. There's ale to be had and wine, of course, but tea would be more difficult to find. However, I guarantee Jon Snow and his brothers in the north would kill for hot cinnamon tea, so I'm calling this a match.

What About You? What would I find in your glass or mug this week? And don't forget to let me know what you're reading.

15
comments:

I deleted the previous comment as my auto correct made it look like I was talking gibberish!

I have only just started the first book of this series on my ereader. Seemed the best way to go since I have loads of reading time on the bus and 800 pages books are a little chunky for hand bags!! I love it, it's tugging me along at a pace I didn't expect and I was up til half one last night reading. I had to force myself to sleep but even then I dreamt of dire wolves.

Right now I am loving just the simple black tea with milk but I might make some black tea with the mulled wine spices I have left over. Sounds divine!

I haven't read the books, not usually my genre, but I have suggested them to my reluctant reader hubs, we will see. My cup will be filled with Starbucks breakfast blend,yummm. Your tea sounds lovely, I was drinking tea all last week when I was sick, why does it soothe so well? I'm reading The Baker's Daughter, and enjoying it so much!! Happy Thursday!

My husband lost his steam with this series, and has currently taken a break midway through the third book. He assures me that I need to read it, but that it will probably eat up a lot of time, so I need to be prepared for that.

I just ordered a great sampler of chocolate teas from ESP Emporium, which is a great new tea site I found online. The have such a great selection, and their chocolate orange tea is fabulous! You really need to give them a try, if you haven't already!

I am halfway through the first audiobook. I've heard that Roy does not do as good as job as he did with the first two books, did you find that to be true? I am having a hard time not watching the series (I have the first season DVR'd) until I am past that point in the book.

Nise': I agree that the first three books were superior. The last two were good but not as good in terms of audio production. There were some inconsistencies with characterizations / voices and I noted a couple odd inflections. But I'd still recommend listening.

I'm halfway through Game of Thrones (print, though...it would take me years to get through the audio!). At first I was worried there was going to be too many characters to keep track of, but all the main characters are so distinct it's not really a problem. Arya is becoming my favorite...I hope she sticks around!

As far as tea goes...I've had mint, Good Earth, raspberry, lemon, and licorice (not my favorite) so far this week. None of it is helping the cold, though!

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I'm a freelance book editor, reviewer, and journalist blogging as Beth Fish. On these pages, you'll find book reviews, book features, and other bookish content. I like to spotlight my favorite imprints and I'm a long-time audiobook lover. (I was the Audio Publishers Association's 2016 Audiobook Blogger of the Year!) Each Saturday I host my popular Weekend Cooking feature. Don't forget to look for my weekly photograph. You can find me on social media as @BethFishReads. Publicists, publishers, authors: please see my review policy. NB: I did not work on any book mentioned on this site.

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